Curtis Baigent ︎ has an experimental, research-led art & design practice, working with uncertainty as a medium.
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(︎︎︎currently) Artist, Design Innovation Director, Creative Director & Research Lead @ Forever / FutureDeluxe.
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(︎︎︎formerly) Creative Director @ ManvsMachine & f°am Studio (Zeitguised).
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(︎︎︎generally) from Wellington, New Zealand, living in London, UK [curtisbaigent @ gmail.com]
(0) Selective Index 🔗
(1) ‘Your System is a Garden, Too’ w/ FutureDeluxe & Digital Impact ⌝ A generative real-time audiovisual ecology. ⌞
‘Your System is a Garden, Too’ is a shy, generative & anti-interactive audiovisual installation, site-specific for the Disseny Hub in Barcelona as a part of the ‘Digital Impact’ exhibition, built in collaboration with ‘Antfood’ + ‘Artists & Engineers’.
Upon entering the space, visitors become intrinsically linked to the system. Their presence and stillness stimulates growth. The garden is shy of motion and will retreat if we’re careless.
The piece consists of four distinct generative real-time visual habitats and eight channels of interconnected real-time generative audio that interact with both the visitors and the flora systems to create a multi-sensory experience.
Upon entering the space, visitors become intrinsically linked to the system. Their presence and stillness stimulates growth. The garden is shy of motion and will retreat if we’re careless.
The piece consists of four distinct generative real-time visual habitats and eight channels of interconnected real-time generative audio that interact with both the visitors and the flora systems to create a multi-sensory experience.
︎ Creative Direction | Art Direction
Artwork created by: FutureDeluxe & FutureResearch
Creative Director: Curtis Baigent & Svet Lapcheva
EP & Producer: Svet Lapcheva & Gustavo Ferolla
Designers: Garett Gioia, Dave Webster, Kristian Glenn, Joey Phinn
Technical Direction: Artists & Engineers
Creative Technology Support: Adam Samson
Music, Sound Design and Audio Implementation: Antfood
Living set design – Manuela Sosa
Video documentation – Charles Lanceplaine
Stills documentation – Eva Carasol
Artwork created by: FutureDeluxe & FutureResearch
Creative Director: Curtis Baigent & Svet Lapcheva
EP & Producer: Svet Lapcheva & Gustavo Ferolla
Designers: Garett Gioia, Dave Webster, Kristian Glenn, Joey Phinn
Technical Direction: Artists & Engineers
Creative Technology Support: Adam Samson
Music, Sound Design and Audio Implementation: Antfood
Living set design – Manuela Sosa
Video documentation – Charles Lanceplaine
Stills documentation – Eva Carasol
As visitors step into the installation, they immediately become an integral part of the system. Their calm and undisturbed presence encourages the garden to thrive. The ecosystem is sensitive to movement and will withdraw if we don't handle it with care.
[The garden is shy, be still]
'Your System is a Garden, Too' invites visitors to reflect on their role within larger systems, whether those are digital or natural, and to recognize the potential for growth and flourishing that comes from understanding and respecting these non-human intelligences.
The artwork highlights an important contrast between active and passive participation. The garden's shyness and the need for an active stillness from the observer are almost counterintuitive to the way people usually engage with interactive installations.
With this, the work hopes to serve as a reminder that sometimes the most
profound experiences can arise from our ability to quiet the mind and let go of our desire to be in control.
Every being is a part of an ongoing transformation, constantly struggling to unfold itself. The stability of the habitat is not guaranteed — the freedom of the individual must always be harmonised with the whole. It's about taking a step back and realizing that we're not the center of the universe.
The garden is shy, but in that shyness, it teaches us a valuable lesson about our place within the grand scheme of things. You are not the main event.
(2) Bjork — Fossora with FutureDeluxe
Experimental Music Video and Live Cornucopia Tour Visuals directed by Björk, Vidar Logi, M/M (Paris), and FutureDeluxe.
How can we design a procedural network of sound-reactive beings driven by the audio expressions played by Björk and her musicians for her experimental film and live show, Cornucopia?
Fossora cultivates a digital ecosystem of soil, earth, rot and rhythmically writhing mutated fungi that invites us to embrace the beauty of the darker things people often shy away from.
How can we design a procedural network of sound-reactive beings driven by the audio expressions played by Björk and her musicians for her experimental film and live show, Cornucopia?
Fossora cultivates a digital ecosystem of soil, earth, rot and rhythmically writhing mutated fungi that invites us to embrace the beauty of the darker things people often shy away from.
︎ Co-Direction | Co-Creative Direction
Directors : björk, viðar logi, m/m (paris) and futuredeluxe.
Full credits list 🔗
Directors : björk, viðar logi, m/m (paris) and futuredeluxe.
Full credits list 🔗
(3) Computer-Aided Design w/ Modem & FutureDeluxe
We are entering a new era of design, thanks to the symbiosis of human and machine. Future Deluxe partnered with innovation studio Modem to envision the role of the designer in this brave new world of machine intelligence.
In this research paper we explore the tension between human intuition and computational procedures via the process of designing a set of 3D printed ceramics with algorithms.
You can read the report here → PART1 + PART2
In this research paper we explore the tension between human intuition and computational procedures via the process of designing a set of 3D printed ceramics with algorithms.
You can read the report here → PART1 + PART2
︎ Direction | Art Direction | Design | Concept
Concept & Research: Futuredeluxe & Modem
Design & Production: Curtis Baigent, Kristian Glenn, Svet Lapcheva (Futuredeluxe)
3D Printing: Fred Gwatkin , Jingwen Chiou, Jonah Maxted, Giovanni Panico (Fabpub)
Photography: Svet Lapcheva, André Baumecker, Curtis Baigent, Kristian Glenn
Glazing: Fred Gwatkin
Essay: Claire L. Evans
Concept & Research: Futuredeluxe & Modem
Design & Production: Curtis Baigent, Kristian Glenn, Svet Lapcheva (Futuredeluxe)
3D Printing: Fred Gwatkin , Jingwen Chiou, Jonah Maxted, Giovanni Panico (Fabpub)
Photography: Svet Lapcheva, André Baumecker, Curtis Baigent, Kristian Glenn
Glazing: Fred Gwatkin
Essay: Claire L. Evans
(4) Spirits3.0 w/ FutureDeluxe
A Platform-Fluid Avatar Study.
How can our identities persist while moving between disparate virtual realities? Our digital lives are so fragmented across various platforms that retaining a consistent identity can be challenging. Attempts to take our avatars with us where ever we go has become an increasingly important consideration.
This study aimed to create procedural avatars that can be used across a wide variety of use cases; as high-end CG rendered from Houdini, in dynamic real-time game engine integrations like Unity or Unreal Engine or even for usage in real-time social web3.0 platforms.
How can our identities persist while moving between disparate virtual realities? Our digital lives are so fragmented across various platforms that retaining a consistent identity can be challenging. Attempts to take our avatars with us where ever we go has become an increasingly important consideration.
This study aimed to create procedural avatars that can be used across a wide variety of use cases; as high-end CG rendered from Houdini, in dynamic real-time game engine integrations like Unity or Unreal Engine or even for usage in real-time social web3.0 platforms.
︎ Direction | Art Direction | Design | Concept
Designed, directed & produced — FutureDeluxe
Research & Design team — Svet Lapcheva, Curtis Baigent, Dan Hoopert, Adam Samson, Ollie Harris
Music — Valley Heights
Designed, directed & produced — FutureDeluxe
Research & Design team — Svet Lapcheva, Curtis Baigent, Dan Hoopert, Adam Samson, Ollie Harris
Music — Valley Heights
Game Engine Integrations (Unity)↓
Web3.0 ↓
